NINE BUILDINGS IN Limerick were listed as ‘dangerous’ at the end of last year – while there were 58 derelict structures in the city centre, some in serious disrepair.
The Journal has looked at the problem of dangerous buildings in Limerick city and the issues associated with falling masonry and the risk of collapse.
Documents released under Freedom of Information by Limerick City and County Council show a catalogue of dangerous structures.
The Council keeps a register of dangerous buildings and released correspondence from their engineers regarding the action taken to make the structures safe.
The local authority identifies problem structures and issues orders for engineering studies to be carried out on them, and then use powers to compel the owner to carry out emergency remedial work.
The most dangerous building is on Lower Hartstonge Street in the city – identified in the documents as being an “immediate danger” by engineers.
A council engineering report in September 2021 stated that the upper structures of the building were “in an extremely dangerous condition”.
“Internal rafters bracing the structure have clearly failed and this has caused the upper portion of the external wall to bulge outwards. The stability of upper portion of the external wall is now extremely questionable,” the report reads.
“Horizontal movement of the upper part of the external wall has caused the roof parapet upstand to deviate inwards posing a risk to any occupants within the terraced structure.
“This property in its current condition represents a clear health and safety risk to users of the adjacent footway/roadway.”
There are also problem buildings in other areas of the county, and the documents show that the council engaged with property owners to solve the issues rapidly in the city centre area.
Documents show that there were 17 dangerous buildings listed by the council in 2019 – all of which were marked case closed by year’s end.
In 2020, 14 dangerous buildings were listed, one of which was still not dealt with by the end of that year.
In 2021, there were nine dangerous buildings listed, with four of those buildings still not having been dealt with at the end of December.
Dangerous fractures
The issues at the various properties include trees growing from the affected buildings as well as falling masonry.
There are reports of dangerous fractures to walls, as well as dangerous windows at risk of falling from some buildings.
Limerick has a comprehensive derelict structures register, with 290 buildings listed – these are spread across the county and metropolitan area.
There is a large volume of derelict buildings in the city’s suburbs and in villages across the county’s rural towns and villages.
In keeping with our previous study of Cork city The Journal set about looking at dangerous structures in the city centre. We eliminated the structures outside the immediate core business district of the city and found 58 buildings which are derelict.
A GeoView Residential Buildings Report for the last three months of 2021 showed that the national residential vacancy rate is 4.4 per cent. That would suggest a one in 20 properties in Ireland are empty or derelict.
In a previous article, we examined the dangerous buildings and dereliction in Cork city.
In that study, councillors stated that much of Leeside’s difficulties were because of building owners keeping hold of their properties so as to sell them when the price was right in the market.
Councillor Catherine Slattery, Cathaoirleach of the Limerick Metropolitan area, echoed that view and suggested that landlords speculating on the property market could be to blame for derelict structures.
“The council are very active on the dangerous buildings in the city centre and they react very quickly,” she said.
“They carry out engineer reports and have a system in place where they move rapidly to either solve the problem or get the building demolished.
“The Lower Hartstonge Street building was quickly identified as a risk and they have closed off the footpath and are making efforts to get that solved.
“I must compliment the council on their work on dangerous buildings but there is a very real problem with derelict houses where there is not enough being done to refurbish them.
“I have no issue with how dangerous buildings are being dealt with – they are very active and get plans to either fix or demolish the structures.
“We do have a problem with derelict houses, the landlords are getting grants and contracts from the council to refurbish houses and get them out onto the register.”
‘Property speculating’
Slattery believes that, like in Cork, landlords are sitting on good properties in the hope that the value of the building increases.
“I am aware of houses which are lying derelict – the next door neighbours are then suffering the consequence of dampness and rats,” she said.
“The landlords are offered a great scheme: they get a grant to repair the structure and lease it back to the council.
“It is a win-win. The council get to take someone off the housing list and that person gets housed. It is generally a 35-year deal.
“But I have examples of buildings where two years down the line, nothing has happened. You can’t blame the council totally for this – there are landlords out there.
“It is beginning to look like that some landlords may be property speculating – hoping property prices rise and get more money for the property.”
Slattery believes that landlords need to be held to account for derelict, and at times dangerous buildings.
“There are some issues in the city which I have come across. Some streets, particularly Georgian buildings, where they have been done out in one-bed flats for people I’ve have noticed that these properties need to be refurbished.
“It feels like they are renting out to people but do not provide proper amenities,” she added.
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